Hyundai engine problem 'never seen before'

Hyundai says it has never previously encountered the engine problem that struck all three of its cars at last week's Rally Mexico, costing it any chance of victory.

Thierry Neuville, Hayden Paddon and Dani Sordo all suffered chronic misfires through the shortened opening day of Guanajuato World Rally Championship action, dropping them down the order.

Team principal Michel Nandan said the problem had nothing to do with the cars running at high altitude, and it was understood to be a more straightforward fuel filter-related issue which the team is confident it can fix.

Nandan told Autosport: "I have never seen this before.

"It was the same problem on all three cars, one of the many filters in the fuel system was partly blocked.

"We don't know the reason, but we will analyse.

"The fuel pressure was not correct and that's what gave us the big misfire.

"We certainly had nothing like this in testing before.

"It wasn't ideal, but we opened the fuel tanks on the cars at service at the end of Friday and changed the fuel filters and other things like the high-pressure fuel pump as a precaution.

"This was a specific problem, but not something specific to the altitude here.

"We will have a look when we get back [to the factory], but we're confident it won't happen again."